See you in 2010!
AWESOME! I was prompted to read this graphic novel because of the forthcoming movie, and thoroughly enjoyed it! The characters, the drawings, the dialog are all engaging! And even the activities that could not really occur were a blast to see depicted - superhero powers in your average person! From the beginning the story caught my attention, and also hinted at further depths and future stories for Scott and his friends. And pop culture references captured perfectly life at this time. Bring on the rest of the stories!
I picked up the third book in this series on a sale table at a local bookstore. I thought I could begin reading this series at this point, but I was foolishly mistaken! So I picked up the first and second ones while traveling, then read the third and fourth ones in this series. This is my kind of mystery! They are more about solving the crimes, than about any of the gruesome details. And the main character, Lois Meade, is a reluctant participant. She gets involved in the first mystery due to her cleaning work in many of the homes of the involved parties. So she is privy to information and details about their lives. She is intrigued by the mystery and wants to solve it to help allay the fears of the community, and because it is a challenge to her wits. She does not want to be seen as a rat for the police, so she has a very abrasive relationship there, which is quite fun! She does not necessarily solve the crimes, it is more that her actions lead the criminals to take steps that bring about their own demise. She pushes and prods and forces a solution to appear. But this does make her family vulnerable to attacks by the criminals, and this also creates a nice tension in the stories. And the use of English slang brings me great joy! All told, they are very entertaining!
A friend of mine was reading this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it. And I have liked other stories by her. This is a compilation of her short stories through the years. I was quickly frustrated and bored by the stories, many of them were too similar to my liking. But I really enjoyed reading the notes about each of the stories that told when she wrote the story, when it published, and why she included it in this collection. That insight was truly wonderful, and helped me have patience with some of the stories I had dismissed. Once Weiner put it into context with her life and her writing, it made the stories much more palatable.
I picked up this book on the discount table of a bookstore, drawn by the title, the author's name, and the description of the story. A woman faces the day when her youngest son moves out, and now she is free to pursue her career as a stage actress in earnest, but she's not sure if that is truly her identity and what she wants. Meanwhile her other two children face life crises, and her sister, and her husband all are trying to figure out what is the right move at this time in their lives. So basically it is about life at any given moment! The writing was wonderful! And the stories told with sympathy and grace. No one person's view point was the dominant voice. Again, like life, there are many sides to the same story or situation. And I liked that the ending was not about tying up all the stories neatly, but about decisions being made, and steps taken to move forward.
I adore this series! The writing is wonderful, the plot is full of unexpected twists and turns and jumps, and the characters are like dear friends now. This third installment in the Spellman drama does not disappoint! I can hardly wait for the next one, and look forward to it with eager expectation. And hope that Izzy grows up just a little!
I continue to enjoy the graphic novels based on the Nancy Drew detective series created by Carolyn Keene. The stories are entertaining and the drawings and colorings are amazing! Plus, they are a very quick read and as my deadline approaches, these will help me reach my total of 100 books read during this year! I could ask or hope for more plausible plots, but for sheer entertainment, they work. I also enjoy that these are modern morality tales. There is a distinct line between right and wrong, good and bad, and that is very satisfying in a world of ambiguity.
The third book in the Harper Connelly series, and a very good one! Not only is the mystery compelling, but the development of the main characters, Harper, and her stepbrother and partner, Tolliver, is complex, and begs future stories. The story is about how being the messenger of bad/evil news can be as dangerous as being part of the criminal justice system. Choosing to relay the bad news makes you part of the case, whether you want to be or not. And you have to be prepared to be pulled into the case in ways you do not expect. A different twist on mysteries where cold facts and intellect usually dominate, not emotion. I enjoyed it immensely, even as I struggled with the descriptions of the brutalities committed.
The pressure is on! I challenged myself to read 100 books this year, and it will be close. After I enter posts for the pile of books on the floor that I have finished, I will take stock to see where I stand. It may mean speed reading short books for the next ten days, but I want to give it a try!
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
